Libraries
Digital Reference
Listen Online: Virtual Reference and the Future of Libraries Discussed on Public Radio
The “Politics of Culture”, a program from KCRW Radio in Santa Monica, California broadcast a program (7/30/02) about virtual reference and the future of the library. The program has been archived and can be heard on the web using RealAudio. Guests on the program include: Steve Coffman from LSSI, Nancy McNeil from the Santa Monica Public Library, and and Susan McGlamery from 24/7.
See Also: Listen to the Program Online

Online Industry–ProQuest
“ProQuest Completes Digitization of Full Wall Street Journal Backfile“
Last week Proquest announced the release of a complete digitized version of The New York Times, this week The Wall Street Journal. The digitized archive includes all material ( including photos, ads, graphics) beginning in 1889 and concluding in 1985. Over 5 million articles.
See Also: Associated Press Story on New WSJ Archive

Web Search–AOL
Web Search–Google
America Online Formally Introduces New AOL Search
The “new” AOL Search has been available for some time but today marks the official introduction. AOL Search contains material from the Google database, the Open Directory Project, and AOL itself. Google content does NOT contain the Google cache, related pages options found on Google.Com. It also does not contain pdf or the other formats found at Google.Com. From the help screen, “For some searches, the first one or two listings may come from AOL’s own collection of matching sites. These listings are usually distinguished from the others by the inclusion of the “AOL Keyword” designation.” These appear only when there is a high degree of confidence by the AOL editors that our content is relevant to your search. Boolean? OR, use the minus (-) sign to remove a term(s), phrases in “quotation marks”.
See Also: Direct to AOL Search

Government Printing Office
Source: The Washington Post
“Will Printing Office Be Inked Out?”
From the article, “But soon one of the nation’s biggest publishing operations may be printing news of its own demise. All 130 federal departments and agencies using the GPO have been ordered by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to arrange their own printing beginning Sept.” Also from the article, “Patrice McDermott, an associate director of the Washington office of government relations for the American Library Association, said that if the GPO were not in charge, fewer government documents would be publicly available. “Ultimately it’s about keeping the government accountable and the public knowing where their tax dollars are going.”

Web Search–AltaVista
Source: The News & Observer
“Search Engines Roaring”
Back on July 2nd I posted a positive review of the new AltaVista Prisma search tool. Today, Paul Gilster, the author of an Internet search classic (Finding It on the Internet, 1994) shares his comment, also positive, about AV’s new offering.

Resources, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (6 Items)
Parliament–United Kingdom
Site Redesign, The United Kingdom Parliament
See Also: Learn More About the Redesign (via KableNet)
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Segregation–United States–Statistics
Source: CensusScope/Social Science Data Analysis Network.
New Interactive Tools, Racial Segregation Statistics for Cities and Metropolitan Areas
Create charts, maps, rankings. Data for “1246 individual US cities with population exceeding 25,000 and for all metropolitan areas, based on single and multiple race populations as identified in Census 2000.
See Also: Full-Text, New Working Paper, Based on Data From Database (via Fannie Mae Foundation)
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World Trade
Source: The World Bank
Full-Text, Development, Trade, and the WTO: A Handbook
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Economic Impace of September 11th
Source: GAO
Full-Text, Review of Estimates for Impact of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks on New York Tax Revenues
Follow-up to March, 2002 report.
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Small Business–United States–Statistics
Source: Small Business Survival Committee
Full-Text Report, Small Business Survival Index 2002
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Public Broadcasting–Radio–United States–Salary Survey
Source: Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Full-Text Report, Salary Report for Radio Licensees
“…biennial salary report for the public broadcasting system. We provide this information in an effort to assist stations in making informed decisions for their salary structures.
Data for the report was gathered through the Station Activities Survey conducted this January. Within each report the information is presented in the aggregate as well as broken down by budget size and license type.” The report for public television is due shortly.

News Briefs
IRS Begins Use of Inktomi Search Technology on IRS.Gov
Search via search box on main page or use search.irs.gov (provides some limits via check boxes). Other Inktomi limiting options are applicable. Inktomi has also extended its deal to provide enterprise search tools at the IRS.
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“IE Alternatives: Three New Contenders” via (PC World)
I’m still a big fan of Opera. Another browser that’s not mentioned here and one that I use constantly is Netcaptor.

Online Industry–Factiva
Free Content on the Web
Source: ZD Australia
“Factiva CEO: News Will Cost in Two Years”
From the article, “According to Hart, consumers do not want to pay for online content because they have been trained not to, whereas business users are used to putting their hands in their pockets for particular information.”

Legal Research
LexisNexis Begins Offering Technology From DolphinSearch
From the news release, “LexisNexis Litigation Support by DolphinSearch is the only electronic discovery system that can identify, analyze and organize critical information like humans do - in context. By learning the relationships between words and concepts, DolphinSearch captures more relevant documents in a fraction of the time.” What’s Dolphin Search? From the company web site, “DolphinSearch is a document-reading robot that embodies the exquisite pattern recognition abilities of a dolphin’s brain. It extracts the subtle word patterns that give language its meaning. As a result, DolphinSearch understands what documents are about. It can tell if a document containing the word “swing” is about dancing or hitting a baseball, or exotic sexual practices. DolphinSearch is not fooled by the ambiguity of common words, and this is a MUST when fluidly analyzing unstructured information. Currently, processing unstructured information requires that the user establish predetermined categories. DolphinSearch, in contrast, is as flexible as a human brain, and requires almost no set-up or user intervention at all.”

Business Research–United States
EDGAR Online Limits Services on FreeEDGAR
From the announcement, “Beginning in August, EDGAR Online’s value branded Web site, http://www.freeedgar.com, will be changed to cater primarily to new and casual users of SEC filings,” said Susan Strausberg, CEO of EDGAR Online. “FreeEDGAR users will be able to access and retrieve SEC filings for any U.S. public company, but usage will be limited.”
See Also: Direct to FreeEdgar
See Also: SECInfo.Com, a Favorite EDGAR Access Resource
SECInfo also provides a real-time feed of SEDAR (Canadian) filings.

Online Databases–GuideStar
Non-Profit Research
GuideStar Launches Data Services
From the announcement, “Through GuideStar Data Services, requesters can obtain up-to-date, cost-efficient, and reliable nonprofit data in the formats they specify. Drawn entirely from IRS Forms 990, 990-EZ, and the IRS Business Master File (BMF), this information is ideal for charitable-sector research, nonprofit outreach, and software integration. Data Services customers select from more than 175 fields to define the information they require. The total cost for a data set is determined by the number of records and information fields it contains; discounts are available for nonprofits that participate in GuideStar. Clients can obtain a free count before ordering a data set.”

Resources, Tools, and Full-Text Documents (4 Items)
Indentity Theft
Source: GAO
Full-Text Report, Identity Theft: Greater Awareness and Use of Existing Data Needed
GAO-02-766
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Business Research–United States
“SEC Web Site Provides Link to CEO, CFO Certifications of Financial Statements of 947 Companies”
See Also: Direct to “…list of the 947 companies whose top officials are required to file sworn statements attesting to the accuracy of the companies’ most recent annual and quarterly financial reports.”
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Aviation Industry–United States
Source: FAA
Aviation Industry Traffic and Financial Statistics (Yellow Book)
“Selected data for majors, nationals, large regionals, medium regionals, small certificated and commuters are available.”
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Prisons–United States–Statistics
Source: BJS
Full-Text Report, Prisoners in 2001
Abstract and access to reports. Statistics available in spreadsheet format.

News Briefs
Factiva To Add Business News Content From China
Factiva will carry the CXN Daily News Service. The service includes coverage of business, financial and economic news on the People’s Republic of China. CXN recently signed an agreement with LexisNexis.

Libraries–Standards
Source: NISO
NISO Announces the Release of the 2002 Library Statistics Standard (Z39.7)
From the site, “This new standard, available as a web-enabled database, for the first time defines a standard vocabulary to measure the use of electronic resources and other library metrics used in the U.S. and internationally. You are invited to review and comment on the standard.” From a listserv posting, “This new edition of Z39.7 is a major departure from prior versions of the standard. Not only has the Committee embraced valuable best practices long recognized by the U.S. library community, we have also incorporated international definitions,” said Denise Davis, Chair of Standards Committee AY, Library Statistics.…”The trial use period is 12 months, supporting an annual data collection cycle. All persons engaged in data collection activities at the local, state, and national levels are encouraged to provide comments to the committee. Publishers, information aggregators and consortia are encouraged to review and use the E-metrics sections.” Comments will be accepted from July 26, 2002 - July 31, 2003. Thanks to B.T. for the news tip.
See Also: Information About Submitting Comments on the Standard
See Also: Info About Subscribing to NISO Z39.7 Electronic Discussion Group

Web Search–Ask Jeeves
Ask Jeeves Launches Toolbar
Another toolbar for IE. Several one-click features not seen elsewhere including access to a dictionary, stock, and weather info.